X Games: sick contest or played out

What do you think of the x games. I personaly think it is lame. They have these stupid comercials(sp?) saying all the riders are rivals or something. WTF!! They are not, most of the riders are good buddies. Plus those anouncers who mispronounce(sp?)all the names need to be stoped and they never show all the riders runs. What do you think?

Kyle

good point-

here is what I do =TVO it and fastforward through commericals.

remember-

they r still the best riders in the world.
- not to watch is not to appreciate.

late/jake

Are you talking about the X Games overall, or just about wakeboarding at the X Games? I ask because it's completely different - they have really done a lot for some sports, giving it visibility and bringing money and sponsors that weren't involved before. Just ask Tony Hawk

But as far as wakeboarding goes, I really don't understand why they bother including it since they spend a ton of money to put on the competition and then never show more than a few minutes on TV. I don't think the X Games has done anything for wakeboarding.

I like watching the X games n all, but the 2 extreme sports Im into get little footage time - wakeboarding and aggressive inline. Seems like the skateboarders (which are a dime a dozen) bmx'ers and motocross guys get all the air time, over and over and over again.

Then again that isnt just the Xgames its ALL extreme sports show, with the added ingrediant on surfing. A normal 'extreme' sports show will start w/surfing, then show some motocross then some surfing then some skateboarding then some surfing. Everyother show the will change the motocross w/bmx'ing, and once every other month they will throw in a small pinch of wakeboarding and once a year or so maybe, if Im lucky some inline vert or street.

Just my rant!

I always watch that god awful "54321" show, hoping to catch some wakeboarding. After months of not seeing anything, earlier this week they had a 45 second segment on the final tour stop. Then they said that was just about all the wakeboarding they were going to show for the rest of the year.

Newsflash for Fox: SURFING IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT

I gave up on 54321 a LONG time ago. I believe the X Games has done an awful lot for some sports, but their coverage of wakeboarding is inadequate to say the least. I remember seeing quite a bit of wakeboarding on the X Games about 5 years ago. That was when I didn't really know anything about it, and I don't think anyone else did either. The way the sport is growing I bet the coverage will get better now.

I think the problem with wakeboarding is that most people don't understand it. In the future when more and more people get into wakeboarding it will get more coverage.

Cliff, I think that inline (especially vert) gets quite a bit of coverage compared to wakeboarding. It is true that freestyle MX, BMX, and skateboarding steal the show, but that is just going to be the way it is. I agree about the surfing not being a spectator sport. I think surfing gets the coverage due to its heritage in board sports. Personally, I don't understand surfing the way someone who has surfed their entire life does. I can appreciate it, but I can't watch it for an hour (maybe half hour, then I lose interest).

In all, the X-Games is a GREAT event. ESPN needs to adjust how they air the games though. I get confused when they jump around from sport to sport and half the time I don't know what I'm watching anymore.

PS - Ditch the street luge. How many people actually have a closed coarse that would enable them to participate in this sport?

PSS - I can't wait to see Metzger throw the "McNasty" in the X-Games. For those who haven't seen it yet, it is a backflip with a heal clicker! All hail the Godfather!

I wish the X-Games were covered a little more professionally. im sick of all the extreme sports shows being hosted by a bunch of punks. i love color commentary, but they need more people that can critique the rides without saying the word "dude" or "like" every 2 seconds.

everything on every extreme sports show is now cliche. listening to these commentators does NOT make me feel 16 again.......it makes me feel stupid for listening to what he/she just said.

and get rid of highlight shows that are shot on a $400 hi-8 cameras with no tripod. the shaky footage on top of the crappy commentary really makes me want to puke.

Luckily for us, coverage can ONLY get better.

Having watched fusion TV a few times and 54321 as well I can say that the videos people post here online are far superior to the junk that is on the networks. I can't beleive the angles they shoot from (the shore) or the shots they choose to include. Usually wipeouts are highlighted and the technical moves that are pulled are glossed over. I can appreciate a great wipeout section but lets see the skill, too. Just my two cents.

Everyone has good points, but still I think the x- games sucks. As said above they never show wakeboarding which is the whole reason I watch it. Also the commentators always mess things up, they have huge amounts of $$$ can't they find someone who knows what the are taking about. Also some of the sponsors don't give a crap about these sports. Taco Bell, what have they ever done to help are sport?

P.S. I think the people who work at ESPN make those stupid signs that people in the crowd have.

Look for increased coverage of Wakeboarding on 54321. I snuk a peek at the first of 7 segments they're doing. It was on the Irvine pro tour stop. Shot on Beta, great editing and music, and hosted by Charley Patterson....They're trying to make progress, and from what I saw, doing a great job at it.

NAW,
beta or betaSP? the quality of all the stuff that doesnt take part on some kind of halfpipe sucks. fox's outdoor programming blows. im an avid hunter/fishman and even that stuff on saturday and sunday morning is crap. espn's stuff is much better. especially Hunting The Country. granted it is not shot by FOX themselves, but by 3rd party production crews, but where will they draw the line.

back to wakeboarding, i did see wakeboarding coverage on tv one night at about 2 in the morning. i think it was either fox or espn2. either way, it was pretty good.

Jacopo-
I don't know which, I'm not techy, but the camera was fricken' huge! Regardless, the quality turned out great.
Alot of the other segments 54321 shot for wakeboarding was shot by contracted professionals on digital. At least they're trying to get wakeboarding some coverage. I'm all for it.

Dave, you are right in comparison, inline does get more air time than wakeboarding, but if it werent for the Takashiki (whatever) brothers, I think they'de get even less.

Kyle, I agree too, I watch the Xgames for both, and I could sum the time I get to watch my 2 favorite events in less than half an hours worth of tape.

I watched the first several months of 54321 (up till Kimberly Cadwell from the 2nd American Idol show came and went) and never saw anything but the norm...surf, mx, bmx and sk8boarding. I did see one inline crotch plant into a stair railing once...but they were just making fun of him. If 54321 is starting to show some wakeboarding, Im back on.

I have tivo so getting the season pass to 54321 sucks. They dont mark any of their shows reruns so I get about 4 episodes a day (7 days a week times 4 minus 1 for the new episode a week = 27 episodes a week to scan and delete) GEEZ. I thought tech was suppose to make things easier!

Are there any other shows showing wakeboarding other than the XG or 54321?

Blue Torch if you can catch it late night on Fox Sports West (direct TV). Makes 54321 look stooopid. If you live in SoCal it's on 24x7. Some good wake segments intermixed in motocross, bmx, skate and snowboarding sessions. They still don't have my sport though, aggressive sequential beer drinking.

Bluetorch is better than X Games is better than 54321.

I think the X Games competition is good, but the way it's presented on tv sucks. It would be so much better if they showed events (or at least the finals) live. I can't understand why they haven't figured that out yet.

I thought I saw a ad saying X Games televised this weekend on ABC? Could be wrong?

the X Games have become the trendiest thing ever

THEY HAVE SNOOP DOGG in their commercial saying "for shizzle my nizzle dizzle" WTF?!?!

and now they have the playboy mansion and the guy is skating in the pool, jesus.

It is all about ratings, skatboarding, motocross get the most and then biking.

Then the announcers who know very little of the actual sport like that Salmon Hajek or whatever his name is, the black dude that is always hosting, that guy makes me mad.

They arent for all the xtreme sports at all, its the ones that get the most viewers.

I remember I was watching the 2002 x games and they showed skateboarding vert, then skateboarding street and then they tried having a contest out in the actual street but they set up banks and ramps and made handrails, wtf is that. They werent able to find a real place that is good for skating? Every show is like that 54321 all it is, is surfing skating, motorcross.

the xgames brings sponsors that have absolutely nothing to do with the sport and it is their poor attempt to reach out to this group of kids.

(Message edited by mike_mike on August 14, 2003)

I guess there are two ways to look at this... So I'll play devils advocate...

Before X-game, blue torch, and 54321, what did we have? Not much, you would be hard pressed to find any of these sport televised. So I'll take what they're giving even if that means 54321 (hey they're trying….)

I guess you can't have "extreme" if it's played out and gone main stream? Well what about the guys that are pulling some of the sickest tricks ever. Tony Hawk's 900, Matt Hoffman's no-hand 900, the first moto x back flip in competition! I consider those "extreme"!

When it comes to lame commercials... who says you have to watch or buy the stuff they're selling? It's a business and because the "lame" and "big corporate" companies see a potential in the market they're running commercials and sponsoring these events. Without their sponsorship the athletes would be walking away with only a few hundred bucks vs. the thousands they do now. These guys are true athletes and it's about time they can make a living off their sports!

(Message edited by dcervenka on August 14, 2003)

I can dig aggressive sequential beer drinking- I think we should introduce turbocharged ASBD as a side project, thrown in with skydiving...

!!!!